New Delhi: Mukesh Dalal, BJP candidate for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Gujarat's Surat parliamentary constituency won the seat unopposed on Monday after candidates in the fray withdrew their nominations. Taking on 'X', state party president CR Paatil on Monday congratulated Dalal for winning the Surat Lok Sabha seat .
Paatil took to social media platform X to post, "Congratulations and best wishes to Mukesh Dalal, candidate for Surat Lok Sabha seat, for being elected unopposed."
"Surat offered first lotus to Prime Minister Shri Narendrabhai Modi!!," he said.
Meanwhile, Surat District Collector and Election Officer Saurabh Pardhi handed over Mukesh Dalal the certificate of the Member of Parliament (MP).
#WATCH | Gujarat: Mukesh Dalal, BJP's candidate from the Surat Lok Sabha seat collects his winning certificate after he was elected unopposed
The Congress candidate's form was rejected by the Returning Officer, the other eight candidates for the seat withdrew their nominations.… pic.twitter.com/Uzslcbj8aD
— ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2024
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel also extended his wishes to Dalal on the microblogging site and wrote, "This is the beginning of the historic victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the whole of India, including Gujarat, in the Lok Sabha elections."
Yesterday, the nomination papers of the Congress party's candidate Nilesh Kumbhani were rejected after his three proposers claimed in an affidavit to the district election officer that they had not signed his nomination form.
The nomination form of Suresh Padsala, the Congress' substitute candidate from Surat, was also invalidated, pushing Gujarat's principal opposition party out of the poll fray in the city.
In his order, Returning Officer Sourabh Pardhi said that all other eight candidates in the fray had withdrawn their nominations except Mukesh Dalal. Meanwhile, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh alleged that the BJP is trying to "match-fix" the Surat Lok Sabha polls, which he said they have won consistently since 1984 Lok Sabha elections.
He said that the candidate being declared "elected unopposed" from Surat Lok Sabha nearly two weeks before polling in the state indicated that the BJP was "spooked."
In a tweet on X, Jairam Ramesh said, "distress and anger faced by MSME owners and businesspeople in Modi's Anyay Kaal" has spooked the BJP so badly that they are attempting to "match-fix" Surat Lok Sabha, which they have won consistently since 1984 Lok Sabha elections!"
Democracy is under threat. Aap chronology samajhiye:
• Surat District Election Officer rejects @INCIndia’s candidate for Surat Lok Sabha, Nilesh Kumbhani’s nomination for “discrepancies in verification of signatures of three proposers”
• On similar grounds, officials reject… https://t.co/uEnLeCGOG7
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) April 22, 2024
"Our elections, our democracy, Babasaheb Ambedkar's Constitution - all are under a generational threat. This is the most important election of our lifetime!," Ramesh posted.
Congress and AAP are contesting the elections in Gujarat in alliance. Congress has fielded candidates on 24 out of 26 seats, while AAP is contesting Bhavnagar and Bharuch.
Voting in Gujarat will take place on May 7 in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections.
